William morse



-- @uitrit tatrs attut @ffice WILLIAM MORSE,- or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent lilo. 68,304, lated August 27.1867..

IMPROVED LINE-HOLDER.

'lO ALL lYHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MORSE, of Boston, in the'connty of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an improved Line-Holder; and I do hereby declare that the' following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my in'vention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. I

This invention is designed chiey for the domestic purpose of holding clothes-lines, though it is of course applicable for holding the bights and ends of lines for other purposes. Clothes-lines of considerable length are usually put up in place for use by persons of little skill, who find it diicult to keep each -part of aline taut even after the requisite strain has been brought upon it for that purpose, the tautnoss of the line being often lost while the requisite turns or knots are being made at each fastening place.

My invention is designed to obviate this diiiculty,rendering it easy .to secure eachlpart oil the line when hauled taut, and also easy to disengage it from its hold-fasts. The drawing illustrates in four views embodiments of my invention-.- v i i 'Figure l being a side elevation of one form of my holder in an open position ready to receive the line.

Figure 2 being a similar view, with the parts shown as closed upon the line and fastening it, while Figure 3 is a plan with the parts in the position in which they are represented in fig. 2.

ais a casting, arranged to bc fastened to a wall, fence, or post, having jaws which receive a piece, b, preferably made of wood, in which is a groove fitted to the circumference of the line` the piece b being of soilicient length to admit of a serpentine formation of the groove, as best seen in Hg, 3. Provision is also made in piece a for pivoting thereunto a piece, c, having jaws similar to those in piece a, which jaws are 4provided with a piece, d, similar to piece'b, the arrangement'of piece c being such as to permit the movement of the piece d toward and from the piece b, this movement being effected by a device applied to the lower end of c, considered as a pivcted lever. '.lhe device shown for that purpose is a cam, e, pivoted to the lower end -of e, and provided with a. handle,f. It will be obvious, on inspection of the drawings, that when the handlefis brought from the position seen in iig. 1 to the position shown in fig. 2, the piece d will clamp the line g between it and piece b, and that Athe groove formed byfboth pieces b d being corrugated or serpentine, and {itting closely upon the line, will prevent itv from rendering or slipping. Instead of employing the cam and its handle` a screw tapped through the lower end of lever c, lwith its end abutting against a, would produce the'same result of clamping the line in the serpentine groove. The end of the line being clamped in one holder or tied to any holder,'may be passed to the holder described, and the bight of the line being put over thepiece d in the groove therein and hauled taut, the pieces b and dare brought together, as. described, and one partof the line is.made taut and fast, and the described operation may be repeated with the remainder of the line and the other Aholders provided. `"llo loosen and'take in the line` commence with either end and draw back the'pieced of cach holder in regular order.

A cheaper form, embodying the employment' ofthe corrugated or serpenti-ne holder, is illustrated in side view in'Figure 4. -In this ligure the pieces b and d are both held in jaws made in the piece a, and the movable piece c, and mechanism for actuating it, are dispensed with. One end ofthe line being made fast, the bight of the cord is placed between the pieces b and d, and by hauling in a direction 'nearly at right angles to that part of the line being made taut, the requisite tension is obtained, which is then preserved bypulling on the free ond .of the rope in n. direction nenalyparnllcl with the tant portion, this causing tbc line to wedge into the space between thegpieces b and d which are inclined to cach other' as well as made serpentine or corrugated. Tautness of one part of the line having been thus obtained, the remaining part of the line may be put' out by a repetition of the described operation in connection with similar holders. Should the lino break between any two of these holders the next adjacent parts will not render through said holders and cause slackncss ol' the whole or a partof the line as is the case where a line is merely passed round hooks or pins, or is not `[irmly secured thereunto. When the holder is somade that one of the corrugated pieces b d can be moved with reference to the other, it is obvious that the mechanism employed for effecting such movement'may be varied from that shown without departure from she gist of my invention. I sometimes make one of the griping-picces b d of rubber or other elastic material, and both pieces may be so made if deemed desirable.

I claim, in combination with thepiece a, serpentine or corrugated holding-pieces b d, substantially as and forthe purpose sct forth. l

Also, in combination with such holding-pieces und with the piece a, a movable device arranged to operate substantially as described. l

WM. MORSE.

Witnesses:

J. B. Cnosr, ,FRANcis GoULn. 

